There are taxicabs, limousine services, Ubers and Lyfts if you need a ride, but if you are the religious vocations monstrance blessed by Pope St. John Paul II, there is just one way to travel, and that is with a Serra Club member.
During the monstrance’s first-ever visit to the Diocese of Gary, Oct. 28-Nov. 8, it was the members of the Serra Club of Northwest Indiana who were tasked with transporting and safeguarding the precious sacred vessel as it was moved from parish to parish to be reverenced by Catholics from throughout the Calumet Region.
“I was so pleased. It was a great experience,” said Susan Gryfakis after the first day of the monstrance’s visit, at St. James the Less in Highland, her home parish.
“We had a constant stream of adorers all day, at least 5-6 at a time and sometimes as many as 10-12,” explained Gryfakis. “There were more people than usual at morning Mass, and some of them stayed for adoration, too. Father Greg (Bim-Merle, pastor) was amazed at the turnout, added Gryfakis.
“I stayed all day to make sure the monstrance was never alone, but I needn’t have worried, because it never was alone from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” Gryfakis added. “Monday is Faith Formation night, and each teacher explained what was happening and then brought their class to adore for a short time. The children also took all of the prayer cards that I had brought, so I had to ask for more for the rest of the visit.
“Father Bim-Merle normally has confession on Monday nights, too, and there were so many people that he heard confessions for an extra half hour,” said Gryfakis, who picked up the monstrance a week earlier from Barbara Luster from the Serra International’s Chicago headquarters, enabling her to bring it to the Oct. 21 Serra Club meeting.
“The monstrance stayed at my home for the following week until I took it to St. James the Less,” said Gryfakis, who admitted she was “nervous handling the blessed item. It is kept in a black case, which is fitted for it, wrapped in bubble wrap and has a red velvet veil draped over it. There are white gloves with it in case a Serran has to touch it, since only priests and deacons are supposed to handle it.”
Gryfakis explained that she saw in the Serra Magazine that the St. Pope John Paul II monstrance was available, prompting her to reach out to Bishop Robert J. McClory for permission to bring it to the Gary diocese “for its first visit in the Midwest. At the end of our visit, I had to ship it to Texas for its next visit,” Gryfakis said.
The next day, Serrans Butch and JoEllen Huppenthal had the assignment of picking up the monstrance from Holy Name of Jesus in Cedar Lake, hosting it overnight at their home and delivering it to St. John Bosco in Hammond on Oct. 30 in time for 7:15 a.m. Mass.
“To me, it is just beautiful. It looks heavenly,” said Butch Huppenthal, who felt it was “so much more meaningful to me because I know St. Pope John Paul II held it in his hands.”
Learning from Father Patrick Gawrylewski, O.F.M., administrator at Holy Name, that the Blessed Sacrament drew a steady stream of adorers from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 29 and 50 faithful to daily Mass pleased JoEllen Huppenthal, a parishioner.
“Our experience at St. John Bosco was similar,” added her husband. “The church was so packed for morning Mass that we had to sit in the back, which gave us a chance to watch the 300-plus school students in attendance. I was so impressed with the children – they were so disciplined and quiet for Mass, and each went up to the monstrance and genuflected together.
“I have never seen so many kids so well-behaved,” said Butch Huppenthal. “They also had a sign-up sheet for adorers, and every hour was spoken for through 7:15 p.m.”
Jeff Bandura took the Halloween shift with the monstrance, picking it up on Oct. 31 from St. Paul in Valparaiso and passing it along to St. Edward parishioner MaryAnn McGully to safeguard in the Lowell church’s sanctuary until it was displayed the next day.
“It was kind of an honor just to transport it,” said Bandura, who took the monstrance after benediction on the afternoon of Nov. 1 at St. Edward and traveled with it to Our Lady of Guadalupe in East Chicago, where it was set up in the chapel to await adoration on Nov. 2. “I was so careful with it.”
John Vidal, president of the local Serra Club, said he felt “blessed to attend adoration and benediction at Our Lady of Guadalupe” before transferring the monstrance to fellow Serran Jane Licheniak, who housed it until the morning of Nov. 3, when she delivered it to the Carmelite Shrine in Munster.
“The service was in Spanish, and there were about 25 adorers, and it was beautiful. The parish did a good job of making it sacred and unique to their culture,” said Vidal. “Our members have been exchanging emails all week, and it looks like the visit is going well. Credit goes to Susan Gryfakis and Dave Budzius, who both put a lot of effort into scheduling the visit.”
Licheniak called it “such a privilege to be able to carry this monstrance to parishes,” and work with Deacon Paul Krilich at the Carmelite Shrine, where she watched a steady stream of about 20 adorers arrive after the 10 a.m. Mass. “I had 30 holy cards and also some booklets with a cover photo of the monstrance, and they were all gone by afternoon. Deacon Krilich said the Divine Mercy Chaplet, then offered a silent prayer period, then a prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows, followed by silent adoration, and then Father Andrew Gbur arrived to close adoration with the Litany of the Sacred Heart and benediction.
“It was very profound and the three hours that I was there went by very quickly,” added Licheniak. “I meditated on the scripture story of Jesus asking his three disciples to stay with him in the Garden of Gethsemane, and I came home feeling so blessed.”
Caption: Bishop Noll Institute students surround Father Jeffrey Burton (center), school chaplain, as he processes with the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance that was blessed by Pope St. John Paul II, at the Hammond school on Nov. 6. The diocesan Serra Club secured the use of the sacred vessel from Oct. 28-Nov. 8, as part of a special 10-stop initiative to encourage prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)